Mark Goodacre notes that a collection of scholarly essays on The Passion of the Christ is being re-issued under a new title, and with a much more attractive cover. On The Passion of the Christ: Exploring the Issues Raised by the Controversial Movie seems to be a new, and slightly expanded, paperback version of a hardcover book that was once called Perspectives on The Passion of the Christ: Religious Thinkers and Writers Explore the Issues Raised by the Controversial Movie, with a new preface by Paula Fredriksen. Given that some of the essays in this book are quite critical of the film — indeed, one of these essays is the infamous “ad hoc scholars report” that suggested all sorts of changes to the film to mitigate its alleged anti-Semitism — it is interesting to note that this paperback may be the first collection of essays commenting on the film to use an actual photo from the movie on its cover. Is this book “authorized” in any sense? Or are photos available to anyone, now, provided they pay a standard fee? (Thanks to Matt Page for the tip.)
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